Backing up and restoring IBM Software Hub

IBM Software Hub supports online and offline backup and restore.

Online backups

During an online backup, normal runtime operations in the IBM Software Hub cluster continue while the backup is taken. Container Storage Interface (CSI) volume snapshots of Kubernetes metadata and volume data are taken with minimal disruption.

Offline backups

During an offline backup, IBM Software Hub services are quiesced to bring them to a consistent state. At the beginning of the backup process, each service stops using its data volumes until the backup is completed. External operations for services that participate in the backup are interrupted for the entire duration of the quiesce, backup, and unquiesce steps.

You can create offline backups in the following ways:

Create Kopia backups on an S3-compatible object store of Kubernetes metadata and volume data.
If you are using Portworx storage, create snapshots of volume data.
Create backups of volume data on a separate Persistent Volume Claim (PVC) or S3-compatible object store.

Because large volumes of data result in significant down time during offline backup and restore, it is recommended that you do online backup and restore.

Deprecation notices:

Except for IBM Software Hub deployments that use the following types of persistent storage, offline backup and restore will no longer be supported in a future release.

NFS: Offline backup and restore to the same cluster or to a different cluster by using Kopia or Restic backups will continue to be supported.
Amazon Elastic Block Store: Offline backup and restore to the same cluster by using Kopia backups will continue to be supported.
Amazon Elastic File System: Offline backup and restore to the same cluster by using Kopia backups will continue to be supported.

Online backup and restore with NetApp Astra Control Center is replaced by NetApp Trident Protect.

Deciding how to back up and restore your data

Use the following questions to help you decide which approach to take to back up and restore your IBM Software Hub services and data.

Question	What to do
What backup and restore options are available?	See Supported backup and restore scenarios to find out the different ways that you can back up and restore IBM Software Hub.
What storage type are you using?	Review Supported storage types for online backup and restore to find out what backup and restore options are available for the storage type that you are using.
Do the services that I am using support backup and restore?	See Services that support backup and restore to find out if the services that you installed support backup and restore.
What if I only want to back up and restore a specific service?	Some services support exporting data from one IBM Software Hub installation and importing the data in another installation.

Supported backup and restore scenarios

The following backup and restore scenarios are supported.

Online backup and restore

Back up and restore a IBM Software Hub instance project (namespace) on the same cluster by using CSI snapshots.
Back up and restore a IBM Software Hub deployment (IBM Cloud Pak foundational services and IBM Software Hub operator project, IBM Software Hub instance project) to a different cluster by using CSI snapshots.

Tech preview You also have the choice of restoring to a different namespace in each of these scenarios. For example, you can restore to the same cluster but a different namespace by using by using CSI snapshots. The option to restore to a different namespace is a technology preview and is not supported for use in production environments.

Offline backup and restore

Back up and restore a IBM Software Hub instance project on the same cluster by using CSI snapshots or Restic backups
Back up and restore a IBM Software Hub deployment (IBM Cloud Pak foundational services and IBM Software Hub operator project, IBM Software Hub instance project) to a different cluster by using Restic backups
Back up and restore a IBM Software Hub instance project's volume data to the same instance on the same cluster by using volume snapshots or backups

Backup utilities

You can use the following backup utilities to backup and restore IBM Software Hub.

IBM Software Hub OpenShift® API for Data Protection (OADP) backup and restore utility
IBM Fusion backup and restore service
Note: Always install the latest hotfix when you use the IBM Fusion backup and restore service.
- IBM Fusion Version 2.11.x with the latest hotfix
- IBM Fusion Version 2.12.x with the latest hotfix
Portworx asynchronous disaster recovery method
NetApp Trident Protect

Supported storage types for online backup and restore

The following tables show the storage types that IBM Software Hub supports. It also shows each of the backup and restore scenarios and which backup utilities can be used for each scenario. Use the table to determine which online backup strategies are supported based on the persistent storage that you plan to use.

Persistent storage	Same cluster, same namespace	Same cluster, different namespace	Different cluster, same namespace	Different cluster, different namespace
Red Hat® OpenShift Data Foundation	Supported. You must use one of the following backup utilities: OADP IBM Fusion backup and restore service	Supported. You must use one of the following backup utilities: OADP IBM Fusion backup and restore service	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: IBM Fusion backup and restore service	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: IBM Fusion backup and restore service
IBM Fusion Data Foundation	Supported. You must use one of the following backup utilities: OADP IBM Fusion backup and restore service	Supported. You must use one of the following backup utilities: OADP IBM Fusion backup and restore service	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: IBM Fusion backup and restore service	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: IBM Fusion backup and restore service
IBM Fusion Global Data Platform	Supported. You must use one of the following backup utilities: OADP IBM Fusion backup and restore service	Supported. You must use one of the following backup utilities: OADP IBM Fusion backup and restore service	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: IBM Fusion backup and restore service	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: IBM Fusion backup and restore service
IBM Storage Scale Container Native	Supported. You must use one of the following backup utilities: OADP IBM Fusion backup and restore service	Supported. You must use one of the following backup utilities: OADP IBM Fusion backup and restore service	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: IBM Fusion backup and restore service	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: IBM Fusion backup and restore service
Portworx	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: OADP	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: OADP	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: Portworx disaster recovery (asynchronous data replication)	Not supported.
NetApp Trident	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: NetApp Trident Protect	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: NetApp Trident Protect	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: NetApp Trident Protect	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: NetApp Trident Protect
Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP	Supported. You must use one of the following backup utilities: OADP NetApp Trident Protect	Supported. You must use one of the following backup utilities: OADP NetApp Trident Protect	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: NetApp Trident Protect	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: NetApp Trident Protect
NFS	Not supported.	Not supported.	Not supported.	Not supported.
Amazon Elastic Block Store	Not supported.	Not supported.	Not supported.	Not supported.
Amazon Elastic File System	Not supported.	Not supported.	Not supported.	Not supported.
Nutanix	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: OADP	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: OADP	Not supported.	Not supported.

Supported storage types for offline backup and restore

The following tables show the storage types that IBM Software Hub supports for offline backup and restore. OADP is the only backup utility that can be used with offline backup and restore. Use the table to determine which online backup strategies are supported based on the persistent storage that you plan to use.

Persistent storage	Same cluster	Different cluster
Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: OADP	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: OADP
IBM Fusion Data Foundation	Not supported.	Not supported.
IBM Fusion Global Data Platform	Not supported.	Not supported.
IBM Storage Scale Container Native	Not supported.	Not supported.
Portworx	Not supported.	Not supported.
NetApp Trident	Not supported.	Not supported.
Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP	Not supported.	Not supported.
NFS	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: OADP	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: OADP
Amazon Elastic Block Store	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: OADP	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: OADP
Amazon Elastic File System	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: OADP	Supported. You must use the following backup utility: OADP
Nutanix	Not supported.	Not supported.

Backing up and restoring service data

You can also back up and restore the data for a specific service by exporting a service's data and metadata from one IBM Software Hub installation and importing the data to another IBM Software Hub installation. For more information, see Migrating data between IBM Software Hub installations.